Packaging apparatus



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United States Patent f 3,363,324 PACKAGING APPARATUS Edwin H. Leedy, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Lockwood Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Delaware Original application Dec. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 328,967, now Patent No. 3,288,088, dated Nov. 29, 1966. Divided and this application June 23, 1966, Ser. No. 559,895

8 Claims. (Cl. 53-247) This application is a division of application Ser. No. 328,967, filed Dec. 9, 1963, now U.S. Patent No. 3,288,- 088 assigned to Lockwood Manufacturing Co.

This invention relates to apparatus for packaging bakery goods and more particularly to a machine for automatically removing a multiplicity of baked rolls and cakes from a pan in which they were baked and for placing them in the container in which they are to be distributed to the ultimate consumer. It is within the scope of this invention to automatically depan and package numerous types of baked rolls and cakes, including but not limited to:

(a) Brown-n-Serve Rolls: Yeast dough rolls which are fully developed and baked but withdrawn from baking temperature before caramelization of the crust occurs. In this state they are essentially colorless with the intention that baking to create the typical brown color of finished baked products shall be completed by the ultimate consumer.

(b) Finished Baked Rolls: Yeast dough rolls completely developed and baked to a caramelized crust condition to make them acceptable for consumption as is.

(c) Finished Baked Sweet Roll: Yeast or chemically leavened dough products of the nature of corn mufllns, fruit muflins, Danish pastries, nut rolls, etc., fully baked for consumption as is.

((1) Finished Baked Cakes: Chemically leavened sweet dough products of the nature of Cup Cakes, Mary Ann Shells, Tortes, etc., fully baked 'for consumption as is. Of the four above classifications of rolls pertinent to this invention, the Brown-n-Serve classification is the most diflicult type to handle automatically and its typical packaging container the most difiicult to insert to product into. Therefore, the description of this invention is primarily concerned with its capability in the automatic depanning and packaging of Brown-n-Serve rolls but it should be understood that this is not to the exclusion of its capability with the less ditficult types of rolls.

One of the difficulties in automating the packaging'of the brown and serve rolls is that these rolls do not have a fully developed and caramelized crust and are marketed in as soft condition as possible. In fact, these packaged rolls have a consistency more analogous to that of raw dough than that of most finished baked products. Therefore conventional mechanized bakery handling devices and processes have been impractical for this use. As a consequence, manual handling has heretofore been the only practical technique for removing the soft rolls from the pans and inserting them into the package in spite of severe shortcomings in the maintenance of proper sanitation standards and final package appearance.

Another problem involved in the packaging of the soft brown and serve rolls which at least partially accounted for the necessity for manual packaging is the requirement that they be compactly placed in the package so that no movement occurs between the individual rolls. Because of their spongy character, this meant that the last roll in a flat package, or the twelfth roll put into a package of a dozen, was required to be substantially compressed simultaneously with insertion into the pack- 3,368,324 Patented Feb. 13, 1968 ICC age. If compressed when fitted into the package, the rolls are held against movement within the finished package.

Raising still another obstacle to the automatic handling of these partially baked rolls is the uneven contour of their top surface, the only exposed surface when the rolls are located in the baking pans. Brown and serve rolls are generally formed in either a cloverleaf or three section pattern, a two section pattern, or a multiple vertically stacked section roll. All of these sectioned rolls present uneven and varying contour top surfaces which further complicates the problem of their being handled automatically.

It has been an objective of this invention to overcome these problems in packaging brown and serve rolls, and to provide a machine and process operable to automatically handle and package these soft dough products. Specifically, the apparatus of this invention is operable to automatically remove the baked brown and serve rolls from the baking pans in which they are baked and insert them into the containers or packages in which they are sold to the ultimate consumer.

Still another objective of this invention has been to provide a technique for handling soft, partially baked, dough products. To this end, I have discovered that a suction cup having a dough engaging rim section less resistant to deformation than the soft dough may be used for this purpose. When 'brought into contact with the top section of an irregularly contoured top surface of such a roll, as for example a cloverleaf roll, the supple rim section will partially accept the irregular contour and when air is drawn through the cup, the rim section will further flex to form a seal with the top of the roll without distorting the roll shape or contour.

When the rolls are transported by a vacuum actuated suction cup mechanism, air is withdrawn from the partially baked rolls. This is particularly advantageous for packaging brown and serve rolls since the partially collapsed rolls are easily inserted into the package. Thereafter, upon the release of the vacuum, the rolls expand within the container and are thus precluded from relative movement within the package. If the walls of the container or package are susceptible to inward collapse, as are many flimsy containers, box spreaders may be mounted on the machine to fully open the top of the container so that the rolls may be placed therein. Thereafter the spreaders release the sides of the carton for inward collapse against the sides of the rolls thus preventing relative movement between them in the finished package.

A brief description of the machine of this invention will facilitate an understanding of these and other objectives of the invention. Very briefly, the machine includes a pair of laterally spaced endless conveyors mounted upon a portable frame. These conveyors run in parallel such that one conveyor carries the baking pans and rolls to the loading station while the other conveycr carries preassembled cartons or containers to the loading zone or station. The purpose underlying this conveyor arrangement is twofold. First, to effectively isolate the inevitable soil or spore on the pan side of the machine from the container side and thus avoid soiling or contaminating of the containers with spore. Second, the lateral conveyor arrangement permits the machine to be constructed in a right or left-hand arrangement, i.e., with the panconveyor located on either the right or left-hand side of the carton conveyor, so as to accommodate specific bakery production layouts.

A movable abutment engages the pans and holds a loaded pan at the unpacking station until a transport mechanism having a plurality of suction cups depending therefrom engages the tops of the rolls and moves them upwardly out of the pan. The conveyor then indexes another baking pan into the unloading zone. The transport mechanism after having moved the rolls upwardly out of the pan then moves laterally on a pair of overhead ways to a packing zone where it moves the rolls clownwardly into the preasse'mbled container. With the ro-lls located in the container, the vacuum to the suction cups is released and the rolls remain in the box as the suction cup carrying head moves upwardly and back to a position over the baking pan line. As the head moves upwardly, the carton carrying conveyor transports the loaded carton, which is now full of rolls, further along the conveyor and moves an empty carton into the loading zone. An interlock system is provided such that in the event that a pan of rolls is not located in the unloading zone, the transport head will remain stationary over the unloading zone until such time as a pan moves into position to be unloaded. Similarly, if a carton is not located at the loading station the transport mechanism will remain in its upper position until such time as a cart-on is moved into the filling or loading zone. The head will then move downwardly and deposit the rolls in the container. Thus, the machine is operable to carry on this unloading of pans and loading of containers so long as pans move into the unloading zone and containers move into the loading zone. In practice the machine is generally set to run at a rate of 30 cycles a minute although it is equally adapted for operation at -a .much faster rate.

Another aspect of this invention is that the entire packaging machine is mounted upon rollers and is portable. To anchor it in position at its position in a production line for use with rolls when the bakery is manufacturing this product, air actuated cylinders are located at two diagonally opposite ends of the machine. When the air supply to the machine is plugged into the common bakery air supply line, these cylinders are actuated so as to trictionally engage the bakery floor and anchor the machine in its position in the bakery line to receive the baked goods without any intermediate handling. Thus, the machine may be used, for example, on a two day production run and thereafter moved out of the way until the next time rolls are produced in the bakery.

Another important aspect of this invention is that it eliminates collation of the rolls between the oven and the container in which they are packed for shipment. The rolls are baked in novel baking pans on the same centers or in the same physical orientation in which they are to be packed and are transported between the pans and the container in this relationship. Not only does this simplify handling of the rolls but it also appreciably increases the speed at which the rolls may be packed.

One advantage inherent in the use of this packaging machine is the sanitation which results from its use. A more sanitary packaged product, of course, means a longer shelf life for the product. Shelf life is a 'function of the spore count of the packaged product. Heretofore, with manual packaging of the product, spore were transported from the baking pans to the hands of the packagers onto the rolls prior to insertion into the package. With this invention, the baking pans are never contacted by the transport medium so that spore are not picked up from the baking pans and placed on the rolls by the transport medium. Thus, a longer shelf life of the finished product is achieved.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily apparent from a description of the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the machine of this invention,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the pan unloading and carton loading zone of the machine with the transport head in the raised position preparatory to pick-up of the rolls from the pan,

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 with the transport head having moved downwardly to the roll engaging position preparatory to removing the rolls from the pan,

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 with the transport head located over the carton preparatory to downward movement of the head to place the rolls in the carton,

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the car ton loading zone and transport head just prior to insertion of the rolls into the preassembled carton,

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the lower portion of one side of the machine,

FIGURE 6A is a side elevational view of the upper portion of one side of the machine.

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational view of the machine of this invention,

FIGURE 8 is a rear elevational view of the machine of this invention,

FIGURE 9 is a top plan view of the machine of this invention,

FIGURE 10 is a front elevational View of the transport mechanism of the machine with the transport head shown in phantom in the pan unloading position, and the carton filling positions,

FIGURE 11 is a cross sectional view taken along line 11'1 1 of FIGURE 10,

FIGURE 12 is a cross sectional view taken along line 12-42 of FIGURE 10.

FIGURE 13 is an elevational view partially broken away of the control valve of the machine,

FIGURE 14 is a view similar to FIGURE 13 but showing the valve spool in a second position,

FIGURE 15 is a cross sectional view taken along line 15-15 of FIGURE 14,

FIGURE -16 is a cross sectional view of a suction cup taken along line 1616 of FIGURE 12,

FIGURE 17 is an elevational view of the vacuum adjusting mechanism,

FIGURE 18 is a cross sectional view taken along line 1818 of FIGURE 17,

FIGURE 19 is a cross sectional view taken along line 19-19 of FIGURE 17,

FIGURE 20 is a cross sectional view taken along line 20-20 of FIGURE 6,

FIGURE 21 is a cross sectional view taken along line 21-21 of FIGURE 20,

FIGURE 22 is a cross set-ional view of the box spreader mechanism taken along line 22 22 of FIGURE 9,

FIGURE 23 is a view similar to FIGURE 22 but with the box spreader mechanism engaged with a box or carton,

FIGURE 24 is a cross sectional view taken along line 2424 of FIGURE 23,

FIGURE 25 is a cross sectional view taken along line 25-25 of FIGURE 23,

FIGURE 26 is a cross sectional view taken along line 2626 of FIGURE 23,

FIGURE 27 is a cross sectional view taken along line 27--27 of FIGURE 26,

FIGURE 28 is a cross sectional view of the pan stop mechanism taken along line 28-28 of FIGURE 7,

FIGURE 29 is a view similar to a portion of FIGURE 28, but showing the position of the pan detecting switch when engaged with a pan,

FIGURE 30 is a top plan view of the pan stop mechanism taken along line 30-30 of FIGURE 28,

FIGURE 31 is a diagrammatic illustration of the electrical circuit of the machine of this invention,

FIGURE 32 is a circuit timing chart of cam controlled switches of the electrical circuit,

FIGURE 33 is a diagrammatic illustration of the pneumatic system of the machine of this invention.

Overall organization Referring to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the machine of this invention includes an endless pan conveyor and a parallel endless carton conveyor 11. These conveyors are mounted on the frame indicated generally by the numeral 12. When in use in a bakery the pan conveyor 10 is longitudinally aligned with the flow of bakery production so that pans having baked products therein are conveyed or directed onto the pan conveyor 10. As viewed in FIGURE 1, both of these conveyors run in the counterclockwise direction. When the machine is in operation, botlrrun continuously. A stop mechanism 13 is associated with the pan conveyor so as to temporarily hold a full pan in the unloading zone until such time as the baked products in the pan have been removed. The stop then allows the empty pan to move forwardly on the conveyor and halts the following pan at the unloading zone. A similar stop mechanism 14 (see FIGURE 2) is associated with the carton conveyor and is operable to stop a preassembled carton at the unloading zone until such time as it is filled with baked products. The stop then withdraws to permit the full carton to move forwardly on the conveyor 11 and an empty container to be moved into the loading zone.

Mounted over the conveyors 10 and 11 are a pair of ways 15, 16 which extend transversely across both of the conveyors. These ways support a transport head 20 for lateral movement back and forth between the two conveyors. Depending from the transport head 20 are a plurality of suction cups 21 operable to engage the baked rolls, lift them from the pan, transport them upon lateral movement of the transport head to the carton conveyor and place them in the empty carton located at the loading station. The transport head then moves upwardly and laterally back over the pan conveyor to its original starting position. This cycle will be continued so long as pans are supplied to the pan conveyor and cartons to the carton conveyor.

In the event of a time lapse between the arrival of the transport head 20 at its starting position over the pan conveyor and the arrival of a full pan at the unloading zone, the transport head will remain in its raised position until such time as the full pan arrives into the unloading zone. Similarly, if the transport head arrives over the carton conveyor prior to the arrival of an empty carton in the loading zone, the transport head will remain in its raised position. As soon as the empty carton arrives at the station, however, the cycle will be continued and the baked products or rolls lowered into the carton.

Referring to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that the rolls located in the pan are oriented in the same physical relationship or otherwise expressed are located on the same centers when in the baking pan as in the filled cartons. Thus, the rolls do not have to be collated between the pans and the cartons since they are already located in the proper physical relationship for packing at the time they leave the oven in the baking pans. Thus, it is only necessary for the suction cups attached to the transport head 20 to lift the rolls from the pan, carry them to the loading zone, and deposit them in the preassembled carton.

On of the keys to this invention which facilitates this type of automatic handling of brown and serve soft dough products having an uneven top surface contour is the novel suction cup used with this machine for transporting the rolls. Referring to FIGURE 16, it will be seen that the cup consists of a vertical cylindrical section 30 having at its lower end an outwardly and downwardly extending tapered flange 31. In cross section the flange defines an obtuse angle of approximately 135 with the cylindrical section. The outward taper of the flange 31 is approximately 10 so that the flange periphery 32 consists of a very thin and supple veil. A perforated membrane 33 extends across the bot-tom of the central aperture in the cylindrical section 30 of the cup so as to preclude dough from being sucked up through the aperture 34 into the mechanism of the invention. The suction cup is made from a very soft rubber or elastomeric material 6 having a hardness of approximately 50 to 60 durometer. Thus, the outer peripheral rim section 32 of the cup is sufliciently supple as to partially accept the uneven contour of the top of the roll when it is lightly placed in engagement with it. When air is pulled upwardly through the aperture 34 in the suction cup, the rim section 32 will further flex to form a seal with the top of the roll without distorting its top surface contour. Thereafter, while the seal is maintained between the roll and the cup, the transport head may be moved upwardly to re move the rolls from the pan.

The vacuum system The vacuum system includes a motor driven turbine 35 (see FIGURES 6, 7 and 8) which pulls air through the suction cups 21 and forces it out through a diffuser 36. The air flow pattern is through the suction cups 21, via a manifold 37 of the transport head 20, through a flexible hose 38 via a two-way valve 39, through a central vertical pipe 40 and a T-shaped elbow 41, to the turbine air intake orifice 42. Air is exhausted from the turbine through the outlet duct 43 via the diffuser 36 attached to one end of the duct 43.

The manifold consists of an upper and lower plate 45 and 46 respectively bolted together and so shaped as to define an air pocket therebetween. Depending from the lower plate 46 are a plurality of nipples (not shown) over each one of which is telescoped the cylindrical body 30 of a suction cup. Thus, air passageways are provided between the air pocket of the manifold and the exterior of the suction cups via the aperture membranes 33, the central aperture 34 of the suction cups and the nipple depending from the bottom of the lower plate 46. Extending upwardly from the top plate 45 is an annular hose coupling flange 48 having a central aperture which extends into the air pocket of the manifold. Attached to the flange 48 is the lower end 49 of the flexible hose 38. The upper end of the hose 38 is connected to a right angle elbow 51 by a coupling 50. The opposite end of the elbow 51 is connected to the two-way valve 39 by means of an externally threaded sleeve 52.

Referring to FIGURES 13 and 14, it will be seen that the lower end of the valve 39 telescopes over the vertical pipe 40 and is attached thereto by a plurality of bolts 54. The valve 39 also includes a pneumatic motor actuated spool 55. The spool is movable between a lower position (FIGURE 14) in which its lowermost surface sealingly seats upon the top of the pipe 40 to an upper position in which the spool sealingly seats against the lowermost edge 56 of a valve cap 57. As may be seen in FIGURE 15, the cap 57 has four apertures 58 equally spaced around its upper surface which extend into the interior of the valve. These apertures serve as exhaust ducts which, when the valve is in its lower position, open the suction cups to atmospheric pressure. When the valve spool is in its upper position (FIGURE 13) the upper end of the spool precludes air at atmospheric pressure from entering the valves Movement of the spool 55 is controlled by the pneumatic motor 66. The piston rod 61 of the motor is attached at its lower end to the spool 55 by a bolt 62 threaded over the lower threaded end of the rod 61. The motor has the usual upper and lower inlet ports 63, 64 through which air is supplied to the motor to cause it to move either up or down depending upon which of the ports is connected to the pressure side and which to the exhaust. This is in turn controlled by an electrically actuated solenoid valve as is more fully explained hereinafter in connection with the description of the electrical and fluid diagrams.

When the valve spool 55 is in its upper position, air is pulled in through the suction cups and downwardly past the valve spool 55 through the pipe 40 and T-joint 41 to the turbine 35. Attached to the lower end of the T- joint 41 is aclean-out trap 67 in which is collected heavy 

1. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A PACKAGE CONTAINING A MULTIPLICITY OF PARTIALLY BAKED MULTIPLE SECTION SOFT DOUGH PRODUCTS HAVING GROOVES DEFINED BETWEEN THE SECTIONS, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING, PAN CONVEYOR MEANS FOR MOVING PANS OF SAID PRODUCTS TO A PICK-UP STATION, VERTICALLY AND LATERALLY MOVABLE TRANSPORT HEAD MEANS FOR REMOVING SAID PRODUCTS FROM SAID PANS AND CONVEYING THEM TO A PACKING STATION, A PLURALITY OF SUCTION CUPS MOUNTED UPON SAID TRANSPORT HEAD, EACH OF SAID CUPS COMPRISING A CENTER TUBULAR SECTION, A FLANGE EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM ONE END OF SAID TUBULAR SECTION AND DEFINING AN OBTUSE ANGLE BETWEEN SAID TUBULAR SECTION AND SAID FLANGE, SAID FLANGE BEING MADE FROM A SOFT RESILIENT MATERIAL, SAID FLANGE IN CROSS-SECTION BEING TAPERED OUTWARDLY TO ITS LATERAL EXTREMITY SO AS TO DEFINE A THIN AND SUPPLE PERIPHERAL EDGE VEIL OF LESS RESISTANCE TO DEFORMATION THAN THE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF SAID PARTIALLY BAKED DOUGH PRODUCTS, SAID PERIPHERAL VEIL BEING SUFFICIENTLY THIN AND SUPPLE THAT THE PASSAGE OF AIR UPWARDLY INTO SAID CUP WHEN SAID VEIL IS LOCATED IN UNSEALED PROXIMITY TO SAID PRODUCTS WILL CAUSE SAID VEIL TO FLEX AND ENTER SAID GROOVES TO FORM A SEAL WITH THE PRODUCT WITHOUT DISTORTING THE SURFACE CONTOUR OF THE PRODUCT. MEANS FOR STOPPING SAID PANS ON SAID CONVEYOR AT A LOCATION BENEATH SAID TRANSPORT HEAD, CARTON CONVEYOR MEANS FOR MOVING EMPTY CARTONS TO A PACKING STATION, MEANS FOR STOPPING SAID CARTONS AT SAID PACKING STATION, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID TRANSPORT HEAD DOWNWARDLY TO PLACE SAID SUCTION CUPS IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID PRODUCTS, MEANS FOR PLACING A VACUUM ON THE INTERIOR OF SAID SUCTION CUPS, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID TRANSPORT HEAD UPWARDLY AND LATERALLY TO A LOCATION OVER SAID CARTON CONVEYOR WHILE MAINTAINING A VACUUM TO SAID CUPS WHEREBY SAID PRODUCTS ARE REMOVED FROM SAID PAN AND CONVEYED OVER SAID CARTON CONVEYOR, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID HEAD DOWNWARDLY WHILE MAINTAINING SAID VACUUM TO SAID CUPS TO LOCATE SAID PRODUCTS WITHIN A CARTON AT SAID PACKING STATION, AND MEANS FOR OPENING THE INTERIOR OF SAID CUPS TO AT LEAST ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AFTER SAID PRODUCTS ARE LOCATED WITHIN SAID CARTON TO RELEASE SAID CUPS FROM SAID PRODUCTS. 